An appeals court has been urged to uphold a judge’s $125 million penalty against Volkswagen in the ACCC’s case over the car maker’s emissions cheating, with a court-appointed contradictor saying the judge was “starved” of the information he required to assess whether a $75 million agreement brokered by the consumer watchdog was reasonable.
A judge has pushed off a heated contest between law firms vying to lead a shareholder class action against construction giant Boral for what could be a year as a landmark High Court challenge plays out.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has refused to provide sought-after documents to the lead applicants of a joint class action against it until AUSTRAC grants permission, citing concerns over possible criminal breaches if it hands over the material without the agency’s approval.
Two law firms that filed competing shareholder class actions against construction giant Boral have asked the court to permanently stay the other’s proceeding, after the judge overseeing the matter said he might wait until the High Court’s ruling on the AMP class action beauty parade before deciding which class action should move forward.
A judge has scolded the law firms behind competing shareholder class actions against Boral for delaying progress of the proceedings, but may wait until the High Court’s ruling on the AMP class action beauty parade before deciding which of three potential class actions should move forward.
An appeals court has vacated orders sending opt out and registration notices to shareholders in a class action against AMP after a successful challenge by the lead plaintiff in a competing class action that was stayed after a high-profile litigation beauty parade last year.
The settlement arrangement resolving five class actions against Volkswagen, which carved out hefty legal fees from the $120 million payout to drivers, could become more prevalent as the spotlight is once again trained on the cost of class actions. But the approach is not without controversy, experts say.
A proposed notice to eligible group members in Maurice Blackburn’s class action against AMP over its fees for no services scandal threatened to bar unregistered shareholders from any settlement stemming from mediation in the case, a threat barred by a recent ruling finding that courts have no power to close class actions to signed up group members, an appeals court has heard.
A court has granted a request from Grosvenor Litigation Services, the funder that backed two class actions against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal, to suppress the details of a co-funding agreement with Vannin Capital.
A judge has found that the High Court’s landmark ruling last year blocking common fund orders in the early stages of a class action also barred them from being made at the conclusion of a proceeding, departing from several recent rulings on common fund orders.